Gary Neville issued an apology for his behaviour on co-commentary during Manchester United’s drab goalless draw with Manchester City.
Neville told Sky Sports: “I don’t think there was one player who walked off that pitch disappointed about drawing 0-0, from either side. They all walked off sort of thinking, ‘We’re okay here, got away without making a mistake’. It was that type of game.
“It was really disappointing. I apologise for my co-commentary actually, I think I let it get to me. I was boring on there as well. That was drab as well.
“I get what he (United boss Ruben Amorim) is saying about it being that stage of the season, United and City are in a difficult moment. But this robotic nature of [players] not leaving positions and being micro-managed within an inch of their lives, of not having any freedom to take a risk and try to win a football match, is becoming an illness in the game. It’s a disease in the game.
Ultimately, you think of Pep Guardiola over the years and that’s what his teams do. We’re seeing poor imitations of that across the board now. United’s goalkeeper rolling his foot over the ball and waiting for things to happen – that’s not it. That’s not what this club is, it’s not what we do here.
“Liverpool don’t do that. You’ve got to be a top team with tempo in your play, rhythm in your play, get the ball moving, shift it quickly. From a United perspective, I get why he (Amorim) has gone deep, back into a structure, he called it a low block. But that’s what we’ve seen from Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag. They’ve all come in with the intention of playing high-press, high-energy football, but always go back to playing in a low block in big games.”
MORE TO FOLLOW
We’ll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
For the latest news and breaking news visit: express.co.uk/sport/football. Stay up to date with all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
Follow us on Twitter @dexpress_sport – the official Daily Express & Express.co.uk Twitter account – providing real news in real time.
We’re also on Facebook @dailyexpresssport – offering your must-see news, features, videos and pictures throughout the day to like, comment and share from the Daily Express, Sunday Express and Express.co.uk.